The Creative Pattern Book: Complete Patterns, Intriguing Ideas & Musings on the Creative Process

by Judy Martin

Cover to cover Judy Martin covers it all in The Creative Pattern Book. You'll get 27 complete and guaranteed accurate patterns from the world's foremost quilt pattern designer. From the first idea to the last quilting stitch, everything you need is right there in front of you in this colorful volume. Each pattern gives you a big color photo, yardage AND fat quarters, color-coded rotary instructions, at-a-glance quilt requirements, whole quilt diagrams, quilting diagrams, exploded block diagrams, full-size quilting motifs, cutting icons, cross references, pattern ratings, style and color discussion, and clearly written directions. As if all that is not enough, Judy discusses her sources of inspiration and offers practical tips for each quilt. She points out the best ideas to be gleaned from each quilt so you can begin to take your own quilts to the next level. Imagine a great quilt book. Now crank that up a notch, and you will come close to The Creative Pattern Book. It is definitely not your ordinary quilt book. It has more pages, more color, more bed-size quilts, more ideas, more fun, more how-tos, and more thorough patterns than the usual quilt book. In short, it has more of everything you want in a quilt pattern book.

Genres: Quilting

Paperback

First published March 1, 2000

Reviews

[Sandy H · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been seeing a lot about "Shakespeare in the Park" on various quilty blogs lately. Intrigued, I looked up the quilt and it's gorgeous. Then someone mentioned what book it was in and...lo and behold...it was a book I already owned! I inherited The Creative Pattern Book: Complete Patterns, Intriguing Ideas & Musings on the Creative Process by Judy Martin from my mother when she passed away and it's been on my shelf for three years. I'd glanced through it once or twice when I first got it, but hadn't spent much time with it. The other night, I pulled it off my shelf and have now spent several nights reading through it. Figured it was time to do a review!

I actually have somewhat mixed feelings about The Creative Pattern Book, although I do give it four stars. I like it very much for where I am now in my quiltmaking journey--I've been doing it for several years, and could probably rank myself somewhere in the intermediate category. This book has some elements that suggest it's for beginners but to be very candid, if this is the first book I'd ever picked up, I suspect I'd have been scared off before I even got to the third page. Hence, my mixed feelings.

Martin's writing style is engaging and there are several excellent elements to this book that are missing in a lot of other pattern books or books on technique and skills. And the quilts are beautiful. But the text is extremely dense and the layout doesn't help it any--I could've used a few more bullet points or some such method of separating ideas out from one another and making the lists more clear.

I liked her "7 Secrets of Sewing Success." I had seen most of them before, of course, but there were a couple that I don't normally see in beginners technique books, such as #4 "Practical Point Trimming," and #7, "Finger-Press for Finesse." She comes across rather strongly in #5 "Aim for Accuracy" as she takes a potshot at the school of thought which says, essentially, "don't stress so much about perfection--you can usually fix things along the way." Instead, "Don't let anyone tell you that you can fix it later," she states unequivocally on p. 29. I don't have any issue with encouraging someone to be accurate. Yes, it does save you a lot of headaches in the long-run. But my mom taught me the "how to fix it" tricks when I was first learning to quilt, and I loved knowing those techniques. I don't need them nearly as much now as I did then as my skills have definitely improved. But I'm very afraid that if I'd been sweating perfection so much when I first started, I'd have quit in frustration. Instead, I could experience the pure joy of creation and playing with fabric for awhile, until I knew this passion had fully taken hold. Then I started working on my accuracy and made life easier for myself. Is that the long way around? Perhaps. But it worked for me.

I love the fact that not only does she have "spool ratings" for the difficulty of the quilt patterns, but that she also includes a "lightbulb" rating. The spool rating is as you would imagine: the relative difficulty of the sewing techniques needed. She points out that none of the patterns is actually all that difficult, but three spool patterns include set-in seams which can take a little doing. But the lightbulb thing? Brilliant! As she says, "One-bulb patterns are repetitive and can be made with one lobe of your brain tied behind your back." Then she goes on to say that she's not included any one-bulb patterns in the book because they bore her. Two-bulb patterns "require that you stay awake" but aren't overly difficult; and three-bulb "require the full participation of an operational brain." I've never seen that type of a rating system and I actually find it much more helpful than the more typical sewing difficulty rating. Most quilt patterns only require a few techniques to pull them off. But some patterns require a whole bunch of paying attention. I like that she's called that out right up front.

Once you get into the pattern section, I like the fact that she gives so much background information on the design choices she made along the way, including things she changed from start to finish. She also outlines information about different color choices in the variations presented. My favorite components, however, are "Ideas for Taking [name of quilt pattern] Further," and "Ideas to be Gleaned from [name of quilt pattern]." I've not really seen either of those things dealt with--at least as thoroughly--in other books. They are extremely helpful ways to look at a pattern as not just a pattern, but a learning experience.

And finally? She includes suggested quilting patterns with the designs ready to be turned into stencils. So if you're still learning how to choose quilting patterns, you aren't peering at a 6" picture in a book and holding it up to different lights trying to figure out where the stitches are. (Come on, you know you've done it!) She also spends some time discussing why different quilting patterns work with each quilt patterns and suggests others you could use as well. Excellent learning material.

I wasn't as keen on how the book was laid out--it's difficult to tell where each new quilt pattern begins. Rather than having the picture of the quilt right at the front of the pattern, it appears two or three pages in. All that separates one pattern from the next is a heading with a bar of color. They chose this layout because she starts with some overall information about the pattern in general, then gives several variations on each pattern--so the pictures show up right before their cutting and sewing instructions. Still, I would've preferred to see a picture of the quilt first before reading the background information so I'd know what she was talking about, without having to flip back three pages to check it out each time.

All in all, I did find a lot of extremely useful information in the book. It's more than just a pattern book, although the patterns are gorgeous. It was inspirational and educational as well. If the layout had been different, I probably would be even more enthusiastic.

If you're a rank beginner, you could certainly use this book. It'll just take some commitment. If you've made a few quilts and are ready for some more in-depth training, this is definitely the book for you. If you've been quilting for a long time, you'll still find lots of great information, tips, and inspiration here.



The Creative Pattern Book: Complete Patterns, Intriguing Ideas & Musings on the Creative Process

[Mystic Miraflores · Rating 4 out of 5]

I must confess that I didn't make any quilts from this book. Instead I looked at her quilting designs and used them on quilts I made from other people's patterns. For example, I really like the spiral motif on page 126; and the really large spirals she used on quilts on pages 80-87.

[Nonnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Judy's book discusses the creative process and designing your quilt. She also lists several cutting techniques for unusual shapes... kites, trapezoids, diamonds, etc. She also list several rules she abides by to make better quilt units and blocks then ultimately quilts. I love her leaf designs. I bought the book for the leaf designs. This will be the first diamond shaped patch I will make. I really wish I could take a class with her.

Ms Martin's SEVEN STEPS TO BETTER QUILTING nails the issues that occur with beginning quilter ( older ones too) She explains in details why she thinks the rules should be followed. It is my experience she is DEAD RIGHT.


Ms Martin included patterns for several quilts, including the quilting designs. She also described the creative process she went through with many of the quilts. I found this helped me think of my quilting designs in a different way.

Grandma's Wedding Ring in several colorways.
Texas Chain
Shakespeare in the Park: snail trail
Horn of Plenty
Wilderness log cabin
NINE patch variations
Judy's Maple Leaf
AUTUMN FANTASY
JUDY FANCY
ALL STAR



NONNIE

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[Catherine Woodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good general pattern book for beginning quilters

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice designs, and some really clever ways of teaching yourself to look differently at the same pattern.